Competitiveness pact to create up to 400,000 jobs in France

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Tuesday estimated that the national "competitiveness pact" will create up to 400,000 jobs for the country in the next three years. With the fresh measures to bolster the country's industrial competitiveness, the prime minister considered "perfectly realizable" the creation of up to 400,000 jobs with a "growth rate at more than 0.5 percent." In a TV interview, Ayrault justified the Socialists' "unprecedented" decision on the 20-billion-euro (25.6-billion-U.S. dollar) tax credit for firms that keep jobs in the country. "Works councils will monitor the proper use of the tax credit each year," he told TF1 TV channel. At the national level, a committee composed of government officials, companies' representatives and trade union members will monitor the fulfilment of the competitiveness pact, the prime minister said. "I hope this pact will create a confidence shock and a mobilization to recover the country's economy which needs to regain its position as an economic leader," Ayrault said. To fund the tax credit, the government said it would raise value added tax and reduce public spending. (1 euro = 1.28 U.S. dollars)